Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $308.43 Million Position in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,673,173 shares of the company's stock after selling 837,011 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.30% of Estee Lauder Companies worth $308,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company's stock worth $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 442.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 57.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 626 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 70.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the company's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Estee Lauder Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, HSBC raised Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $99.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.50.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $87.19. 1,256,511 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,300,858. The company has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.37 and a 52 week high of $103.44.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 15.60% and a negative net margin of 5.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -57.85%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.